As the first Anatomy/Histology exam draws nearer, tension in lecture has increased to a palpable level. It seems like most of my classmates are relatively prepared, but still remain on edge since none of us truly know how this first experience will turn out. My philosophy thus far has been to spend my energy on studying rather than worrying, but I realize a healthy dose of anxiety does wonders for motivation.
Along with a couple of review sessions, this week included our very first nerve conference. It consisted of several patients with relevant nerve damage allowing us to question them about their deficits. It was then our job to use our anatomy knowledge to discern exactly which nerves and branches of nerves might have been damaged. Perhaps more than anything it served to remind us of why we are learning all of this information in the first place. It's easy to get wrapped up in the day-to-day struggles of cramming dozens of pages of lecture notes into our skull. Seeing a few patients every now and then is a nice reality check, and a much more effective source of motivation for me than that "uh oh" feeling.
Next week will be an exciting one. Tuesday will be my first round of free clinic work. I look forward to learning the ropes and speaking with the uninsured of Detroit. The clinic is largely Spanish-speaking, which will be an excellent opportunity to shake the cobwebs off of what I learned back in high school.
Alissa has been enjoying her last few days of freedom as she begins year two of physical therapy school on Wednesday. Understandably, she wishes she had a few more weeks to enjoy the summer (I wish she did too, for her sake). Selfishly, though, it will sure be nice to see her a little more frequently with her being back in Detroit for classes!
Wednesday, of course, is also the day of my exam: an eight hour marathon of practical anatomy identification, written anatomy questions as well as histology. Should be fun. I feel well prepared already, but certainly will not be taking any of the coming weekend hours for granted.
Until next time!
Medical factoid of the day: When the nerves of a muscle are irreversibly damaged, causing the muscle to atrophy, surgeons are often charged with the task of moving other properly functioning nerves and muscles into the defect. To accomplish this, surgeons look to several places in the forearm, wrist and hand where functional redundancies occur. For instance, one of the muscles that extends the little finger (extensor indicis) is assisted to a large extent by a superficial muscle called extensor digitorum which runs down the top of the forearm and hand. If a flexor of the hand is knocked out, extensor indicis and it's accompanying innervation can be relocated to the flexor compartment with only mild short-term extension deficit in the little finger. Amazingly, the extensor digitorum soon grows to compensate for the missing muscle.
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